malevans

I must firstly confess to being a bit of a dogmatist on this subject, for if there is not a reel it is not fishing for me. (I appreciate where angling started off but ....) Plus allowing fish to wear them selves out against elastic, just does not hit my G spot. However a whip does have a place in my tackle bag, it is a great tool for catching perch bait, namely gudgeon. Plus when I worked in Harlow a few years back i used it to fish in my lunch hour on the Stort, yes in a suit

Well done. I remember mine and still have a photo, 4.5lb mirror, caught with swing tip using 5 casters on a size 10. Wonder how big it is now ?

I have seen in the past, but I do not know if they are current, both salmon and trout Fly/spin rods. Never tried one. Apart from weight I cannot see why a centre pin would not double up as a fly reel, in fact some of the modern fly reels can probably double up as centre pins, both my MLA 400 and my wife's LOOP Traditional could be used this way, if not the ideal solution. But as I mentioned in another thread you could get way using a crabline winder.

I would not recommend breatables for workinbg party activities they are not very robust relative to other traditional materials. My mate went through the cheaper models as if they were going out of fashion. Also with breathables one definately gets what one pays for in terms of longevity and puncture restistance.

Peter, I would assume that about braid also, but may be not because there are other factors other than the stretch characteristic. Does anyone out there have a materials science view on this ? The other factor which cropped in a recent thread was scent. This is also overlooked. It is certainly true than many river records etc etc for salmon are held by women. It is also true that some folks catch salmon by just chucking whatever, any old how, into the water. (Told my mate he "has a womans hands", particularly as he even had his reel on the wrong way round. I also made reference to scent phenomina this in my post on the "house hold items useful for fishing". But maybe boilie dips are more human maskers than attractors ? While I own goal posts and a POD, I always use a pod for short sessions, no bankstick banging, likewise I prefer to sit in the rain on morning piking sessions rather than bang the brolly in. It has to be really really grim for my brolly to go up. I don't do cameo but I will confess to doing stainless . I use braid only for plumbing and drifter fishing. Which leaves two sound related questions. What music should we transmit down our lines in order for the fish to come ambling sedately into ones landing net, without a fight or may be even being hooked Is the high frequecy sound transmitted from the reel gears down the nylon or braid a plus or minus when lure fishing ?

Thnking about it I would use a guide in the UK if I ever decided to target Common Skate or Halibut. Plus every charter skipper is guide so to speak.

That hell of a fish finder you guys have got there !

Good spot Peter. Most modern alarms are so loud that sounder boxes or receivers are not required. But I use my receiver and have the heads turned down to the point of needing to put your ear next to them to hear them. For Piking I use two original optonics so cannot hear them anyway :confused:

Well almost got of the mark today, Put one of my dead bait rods away for a while and got the fly rod out. Three takes all came off

but as general advice ? My input would have been. 12lb wonder wire, size 10 trebles, and small roach or smelts, and absolutely minimal restistance. Targeting to low doubles.

Hi Norrie, when did you last fish the garry ? I have fished it a couple of times a year since 1993 and for the last two years (when the syndicate was introduced) have two season rods. Have three trips arranged this year. Where are you fishing at Easter ?

But 3lb test curve rods and size 6 trebles for Zander ?

River Garry and Loch Oich.

PS if you live in the south I will be landing at Heathrow around 19:00 on the 6th and driving to Middlesboro so you could join me at that point or on route depending upon where you live. You will need to sort your own overnight accomodation in middlesboro on 6th and amuse your self whilst I am working until around 16:00 on the 7th.

Hi folks, unfortunately my wife cannot join me on my next trip, and my usual mates are booked out as well. So if any one fancies fishing for trout salmon or pike in the highlands from Thursday 8th of April and returning Sunday 11th of April then let me know. I have a spare salmon fly outfit, but you will need your own Trout fly and lure rods. I live in Northants but have arranged to work in the Middlesboro office on the 7th and will depart and travel to the highlands on evening of wed 7th. Private syndicate, no charge for using my second rod, but you will need to sort your own B&B mine is costing 20 quid a night. Only real requirement I have is that you share driving, its a company car so anyone can drive it. Fishing includes a heated cabin (you cannot sleep in this) with cooker microwave etc, and two boats for loch. Pictures of some of last years salmon and trout are on the gallery, last years pike on the fly from the loch would be, but it will not let me put anymore pics up for some reason. Fly and lure only, no worms or prawns. You can dead bait for pike on the loch.

By the way chaos theory did once give a reasonable prediction on what distance a given size of preditor could approach a sticklebacks nest before the male attempted to defend. Interesting read in my student days, I can confirm that it has been of no practical angling use whatsoever!

I got no where with lures on the Ebro....but that means nowt:).....but a nice crucian two feet down....bobs ya uncle. But in principle it should be very effective. Bright day ....bright whatever.....dull day....dull whatever. Cliche, perhaps but it does generally work....or is it selffulling prophecy ? Temperature is tricky....depends upon water column depth over all and where the thermo layers are will depend upon wind or lack off etc etc. To complex for me or my mathematics, I will leave that one for Dr Malcolm and his chaos theories...

Agree with sentiments above and I would for GTEs as well. My only comment is most pike anglers fish open bale arm so why buy baitrunners if major use is piking ? I have fished lakes where baits were dropped using baitrunners but open balearm they were not and captures resulted. We discussed this some years ago and someone said if pike can detect vibration from baitrunner mechanism after time then we should all give up. The response...totally blind pike are known to feed and survive very well.......

My wife took up fishing also after we were married. She will fly fish and lure fish, but I manage to get her coarse fishing once only, she caught a pound roach but declared the experience boring. Whats worse is this means all my bivy time is spent alone. All four of my kids, including the two daughters, fish. I have also taken all three of my nieces fishing, some where more receptive than others admittedly.

Apologies guys. I did not put my point clearly. The point about professionalism in a guide is not related to him/her being totally dependent upon guiding for their income or doing the job full time. As for how often on the water....depends on how much experience the said guide has of the venue... Changing tack for purposes of illustration for mo. When I fish a new water I end up putting in hours and hours or days and days, but we all see the guy who has been on it for years and decades who turns up catches in a couple hours, time after time, whilst we go through our sessions...but time is actually critical to me. So I put the hours in so I can get to the stage where by I need less hours to catch. Some pike venues I will not fish based upon percentage likely hood of a return on time spent....Willen lake for Pike never in bright sunshine, Loch Oich only in bright sunshine. So point is with enough experience the issue of being full time on the water becomes less important. I can take any novice to a river I know and they will have have a wild brown in 20 mins max, yet there is a professional guide complete with published books and branded discovery whose clients regularly blank or catch very few on the same venue...he is full time, looks and acts very professional, landrover looks really pukka. Nuff said.. Would I pay a guide etc etc, very very good question, never in the UK despite time being critical, I like to work it out for myself its more satisfying...abroad yes I will pay a guide because thats about a holiday, and an angling experience, basis of selection....recommendation not how many hours works or whether he has another job. Like the argument I had with my mate in a highland hotel one night. Gillie in Irland chose his fly, leader length, told him exactly where to cast and how to and what speed to move the fly round...and he was trying to tell me he had caught two salmon....Blah....he had experienced landing one....

Yep used ledgered float tactic that had worked for Pike during the winter to catch carp on the same lake during the summer, when usual carp tactics seemed to stall. Took wire off and changed bait of course.. Use zingers when coarse fishing.

Must be related to hook size used. Threading 20lb though a 22 will be challenging. Also such heavy hook lengths may be used as a rubbing leader if the quarry has an abrasive body or mouth. However I would usually expect the hook length to be of less breaking strain and thinner diameter as a general rule.

Can't go wrong with an Argos Carp rod ! My sons has netted him double figure carp, pike and salmon. However back to main thrust of the thread. Piking in particular tends to generate the black art and element of "need to be qualified", which if put inappropriately tends to make the new pike angler rebel against the establishment. I started 12 years ago when I took what was then my one carp rod down the great ouse stuck a deadbait on with some trebles and hey presto I am piking. I had however read several books from the library on Piking, so I knew about fragility out of water, I "knew" what to do when a deep hooking was encountered (it was 4 years later when I encountered my one and only situation of this type to date, but memory served well) Anyway non of these was an immediate issue because I kept failing to hook up ! Lost/missed pike after pike. So i went back to books and then cracked it, I was striking ala float fishing with maggots . However the key factor was having read about deep hooking and fragility out of water, I actually cared about it. Read or be taught as much as you like if the angler does not care then its irrelevent, if the angler spends 10 mins setting his camera up because he must have pic the fact he is educated in these matters does not matter. One comment I would make is that at times Pike angling comes across in a very pompus manner (due to well intensioned consern for the Pike) and I repeat black art feel, and this is enough to turn many a new pike angler away from engaging with the experienced community. Presentation is 90% of the success of anything. And that is where Piking and Dry fly fishing reach their common ground. So don't tell folks piking is hard, tell them it is easy, explain why its easy. E.g. Deep hooking is not a problem the odd time it occurs because all you have to do is ...... people will take this in. But as they visualise pulling on the trace and hooks appearing (whilst in a positive frame of mind because this is easy ) the impression made upon them will be greater.

Well this is a cracking thread. I have taken Nathens threads mostly in the context of him being young and enthusiastic. One thread about "soon there will be only carp fishing" did annoy me because it was pointless and my reply reflected this. Overall however he asks questions that may be our beginers or observers are too shy to ask...like can I use my coarse tackle in the sea.... The issue initially raised though does have some merit. Unfortunately web sites appear to have authority including nathans, he is adding content without editorial judgement, and without context, with the answers he has adopted, some of those answers I believe are actually believe are "wrong" i.e. do not match my experience and others will think that about my posts or those of others, but that is inevitable because the diversity of input and experience of a forum such as this is its greatest asset. But you cannot give one sentence statements on a web site to questions like what is the best flavour boilie or best size. What you can do is is say "if you going on holiday you can use your coarse tackle in the sea...but make sure you rinse it of with fresh water every session." So Nathen keep asking the questions but my advise is (and this will stand you in good stead for the future in life in general) decide what it is you want to achieve with the question and consider the wording of the question carefully. Then when you have answers consider what you want your visitors to get from it and couch the content accordingly. Overall remember the form of the question shapes the answers received and their value.

Well the clients view is....... Full time is irrelevent. What one pays for is: a) Teaching ability if we are talking instruction. Knowledge if its actual guiding (gillie in effect) I expect a professional but not superior attitude, one arguement says that if the guide is totally dependent upon his clients for his family income then he needs referrals and repeat business. However the reverse is that a guide in these circumstances might be desperate for that days cash. The guide should advise on whether fishing is advisable based upon conditions. At the end of the week I judge a guide on: What did I learn in general to add to my overall experience and knowledge, and did I end up on the target species. Was there something specific and unique about their input in terms of set up or location, which meant I caught from that venue. Part time or full time don't care.....would like to see formal licensing of guides however. Would I like to be a professional angler or guide...no chance...would spoil the fun and release. Would I like to be a lottery winner who could fish as much or little as I please and not go to work...TOO RIGHT I WOULD.